A Macroinvertebrate Search

ALDERFLY
AQUATICWORMS
CADDISFLY
CRANEFLY
CRAYFISH
DAMSELFLY
DOBSONFLY
DRAGONFLY
LEECH
MAYFLY
MIDGE
MOSQUITOLARVA
MUSSEL
RIFFLEBEETLE
SALMONFLY
SIDESWIMMER
SNAIL
STONEFLY
WATERPENNY

Macroinvertebrates are a diverse group of animals, ranging from insects and crustaceans to molluscs and worms. They have been around for about 500 million years and some were even living in our waterways before the dinosaurs! Different aquatic macroinvertebrates have different tolerance levels to water pollution. Some water critters are sensitive to pollution, which means if the waterway was to become polluted they will die or move elsewhere. Other critters are tolerant to pollution, meaning they can survive in polluted water. By sampling a waterway for macroinvertebrates and identifying what’s there you will get a good indication of water quality and habitat condition. This word search contains the names of the different kinds of macroinvertebrate one might find in a typical freshwater stream. Good Luck!

Try to find all 19 words on this board.

T S L E C A D A M S E L F L Y
F L V L M A U D Y L F Y A M E
K S X T Y L F E N A R C O L B
Q M Y E Y L F E N O T S H C P
D R L E L O B U W U Q I S L Y
R O F B F H L S T U L D I L N
A W N E R C K E I D O E F P N
G C O L E E T T S B Q S Y S E
O I M F D E O P S S I W A W P
N T L F L L I O N D U I R G R
F A A I A X N A D J J M C N E
L U S R A F I A J P I M Z Y T
Y Q V S L L C D U D F E E Q A
M A N Y S D J O G E K R V F W
Q X G S L V W E D Q L W E V D
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Answer Key for A Macroinvertebrate Search

X
Y
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1# # # E # # D A M S E L F L Y
2# # # L # # # # Y L F Y A M #
3# S # T Y L F E N A R C O # #
4# M Y E Y L F E N O T S H # #
5D R L E L # # # # # Q I S # Y
6R O F B F H L # # U # D I L N
7A W N E R C # E I # O E F # N
8G C O L E E # T S B # S Y # E
9O I M F D E O # S S I W A # P
10N T L F L L # O N D U I R # R
11F A A I A # N A D # # M C # E
12L U S R # F I A # # I M # # T
13Y Q V # L L C # # D # E # # A
14# A # Y # # # # G # # R # # W
15# # # # # # # E # # # # # # #
Word X Y Direction
ALDERFLY  511n
AQUATICWORMS  214n
CADDISFLY  713ne
CRANEFLY  123w
CRAYFISH  1311n
DAMSELFLY  71e
DOBSONFLY  126sw
DRAGONFLY  15s
LEECH  610n
MAYFLY  142w
MIDGE  1211sw
MOSQUITOLARVA  88sw
MUSSEL  1211nw
RIFFLEBEETLE  412n
SALMONFLY  312n
SIDESWIMMER  124s
SNAIL  109sw
STONEFLY  124w
WATERPENNY  1514n